2011 WSOP: KENNETH GRIFFIN THE LATEST ON THE PODIUM

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

Kenneth Griffin is the latest WSOP winner as we inch closer and closer to the Players' Championship and the Main Event.

Griffin earns his first PTPR Points of the season, winning Event 45 - No Limit Hold'em.

The Magician was up to his old tricks - although Antonio Esfandiari hoped for a better result but, the recent WPT Champion settled for a 7th place finish in the event.

Jonthan Driscoll, Tamas Lendvai, "ODB" David Baker and Nicolo Calia round-out the Top 18.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 45 No Limit Hold'em
June 26-28, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,000
Prizepool: $2,601,000
Entries: 2,890

FINAL RESULTS:
KENNETH GRIFFIN 145
JEAN LUC MARAIS 95
PHILIP HAMMERLING 65
ERIC BAUDRY 55
ANDREW TANG 50
JONATHAN LANE 45
ANTONIO ESFANDIARI 45
AARON MASSEY 30
JEREMIAH SIEGMUND 30
DAVID HAIMAN 30
JONATHAN DRISCOLL 30
TAMAS LENDVAI 28
DAVID BAKER "ODB" 28
JELGER WEIGERSMA 28
PAULO GOMES 28
NICOLO CALIA 25
STUART FISCHBEIN 25
KENT NOVICK 25

2011 WSOP: PORTER'S TIME TO SHINE

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

Quick and dirty update tonight ...

Congratulations to Rep Porter for winning Event 44 - Seven Card Razz ... beating the likes of Robert Williamson III, Chris Bjorin, John Monnette and Victor Ramdin along the way.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 44 Seven Card Razz
June 24-27, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $2,500
Prizepool: $825,825
Entries: 363

FINAL RESULTS:
REP PORTER 128
STEPHEN SU 78
TOMMY CHEN 48
ROBERT WILLIAMSON III 38
ANDREAS KRAUSE 33
CHRIS BJORIN 28
MATT SMITH 28
SCOTT EPSTEIN 13
GERARD RECHNITZER 13
GEORGE LEWIS 13
MIKHAIL SMIRNOV 13
SCOTT BOHLMAN 11
JOHN MONNETTE 11
BROCK GARY 11
MIKHAIL TULCHINSKIY 11
VICTOR RAMDIN 8
JAY KWON 8
SIMON KEARNEY 8

BREAKING: KATCHALOV TAKES OVER #1 RANK WHILE PECHIE, LAMB WIN AT WSOP

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

We have a new leader! Finsihing fourth overnight in WSOP Event 41 - Limit Hold'em Shootout earned Eugene Katchalov his 5th PTPR Score of the season; earning 40 PTPR Points along the way - placing him FIRST OVERALL on the PTPR Leaderboard -
surpassing Alessio Isaia - Katchalov leads him by 6 points on the charts.

The event was won by Justin Pechie - his first bracelet and first PTPR Score of the season.

Dom Denotaristefani, Ari Engel, Noah Boeken, JJ Liu, Brock Parker, Sergey Rybachenko, Kirill Rabstov and Leonardo Fernandez were other notables in the Top 18.


Onto Event 42 - which ended only a few hours ago. The PLO Championship has been won by Ben Lamb. Lamb's second score of the year puts him into the PTPR Charts, placing him 9th overall.

Lamb defeated Sami Kelopuro heads up ... John Shipley, John Kabbaj, Josh Tieman, Hans Winzeler, Matt Glantz, Felipe Ramos, Jesus Cortes, Tristan Clemencon, Alex Kravchenko and David Iammarino were other notables.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 41 Limit Hold'em Shootout
June 24-26, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,500
Prizepool: $726,300
Entries: 538

FINAL RESULTS:
JUSTIN PECHIE 130
DALE EBERLE 80
MATHIEU JACQMIN 50
EUGENE KATCHALOV 40
JORDAN RICH 35
STEPHEN BASS 30
ADAM TYBURSKI 30
DOM DENOTARISTEFANI 15
CHRIS KWON 15
ARI ENGEL 15
HAL LUBARSKY 9
JAMES COHN 9
NOAH BOEKEN 9
JJ LIU 9
BROCK PARKER 9
SERGEY RYBACHENKO 9
DALE BURNER 9
KIRILL RABSTOV 9
LEONARDO FERNANDEZ 9
JEFF SIEGAL 9

PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 42 Pot Limit Omaha Championship
June 24-27, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $10,000
Prizepool: $3,393,400
Entries: 361

FINAL RESULTS:
BEN LAMB 128
SAMI KELOPURO 78
JOHN SHIPLEY 48
CHRISTOPHER KING 38
DARIO ALIOTO 33
JOHN KABBAJ 28
CORY WOOD 28
JOSH TIEMAN 13
HANS WINZELER 13
MATT GLANTZ 13
BENJAMIN KAUPP 13
MICHAEL WEYER 11
JUSTIN SCHWARTZ 11
FELIPE RAMOS 11
JESUS CORTES 11
TRISTAN CLEMENCON 8
ALEX KRAVCHENKO 8
DAVID IAMMARINO 8

POKER ROUND-UP: BORGATA SUMMER OPEN + MORE FROM VENETIAN DEEP STACK

PHOTO: BORGATAOPEN.com
SOURCE: THEHENDONMOB.com

The Borgata have found the winner of their Summer Open and the Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza continues to crown champions in this edition of the Poker Round-Up!

Tyng Low has won the Borgata Summer Open Championship Event, besting 322 other players in order to win the summer classic. Runner-up Jattin Farid earned his second PTPR Score of the 2011 season.

Meanwhile in Vegas, Christopher Johnson beomes the latest winner in the Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza series of events, winning the latest 1.5K No Limit Hold'em event. Frank Alpandinar and Yordan Mitrenstov also scored in the event.


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Borgata Summer Open
NLH Championship Event
June 19-22, 2011

Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa
Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

Buy-in: $2,500
Prizepool: $807,500
Entries: 323

FINAL RESULTS:
TYNG LOW 35
JATTIN FARID 18
AUSTEN JOHNSON 10
ANDREW KLEIN 8
BRIAN ALTMAN 5

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza
No Limit Hold'em Event
June 20-21, 2011

Venetian Resort Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,590
Prizepool: $485,700
Entries: 332

FINAL RESULTS:
CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON 35
FRANK ALPANDINAR 18
CODY CHEEK 10
WILLIAM HICKEY 8
YORDAN MITRENSTOV 5

2011 WSOP: NOVEMBER NINER JARVIS SECURES FIRST BRACELET

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

2010 November Niner Matt Jarvis came in on Sunday hoping to collect his first bracelet. Jarvis (pictured) and Justin Flitz needed the extra day to find a winner - and the man from British Columbia, Canada won the gold.


Jarvis has had a fairly quiet time on the circuit since his participation in the November Nine but this surely puts his season back in order - not to mention the +800k he collects with his win in Event 40 - 5K No Limit Hold'em Six Handed.

Fellow November Niner (and current WSOP World Champion) Jonathan Duhamel finished 15th in the event. Duhamel earns his third PTPR Score of the year. Other notables in the Top 18 included: Wesley Pantling, Matt Vengrin, Dan O'Brien, Massimiliano Martinez, Kevin Iacofano, Hafiz Khan, Russell Carson, Grayson Ramage and Shane Schleger.

Here is how the final table played out:
1 Matt Jarvis 808,538
2 Justin Filtz 499,855
3 Wesley Pantling 317,136
4 Robert Merulla 208,281
5 Tore Lukashaugen 141,125
6 Matthew Vengrin 98,567
7 Dan O'Brien 70,872
8 Mauro Stivoli 70,872
9 Daniel Hirleman 52,431


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 40 No Limit Hold'em Six Handed
June 23-26, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $5,000
Prizepool: $3,440,400
Entries: 732

FINAL RESULTS:
MATT JARVIS 132
JUSTIN FLITZ 82
WESLEY PANTLING 52
ROBERT MERULLA 42
TORE LUKASHAUGEN 37
MATTHEW VENGRIN 32
DAN O'BRIEN 32
MAURO STIVOLI 17
DANIEL HIRLEMAN 17
MASSIMILIANO MARTINEZ 17
KEVIN IACOFANO 17
HAFIZ KHAN 15
BRENDON RUBIE 15
RUSSELL CARSON 15
JONATHAN DUHAMEL 15
GRAYSON RAMAGE 12
SHANE SCHLEGER 12
JUDE AINSWORTH 12

2011 WSOP: TSINIS WINS A BRACELET

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

Overtime was needed once again to decide a winner in No Limit Hold'em Event 38. Arkadiy Tsinis was able to survive a heads up charge from Michael Blanovsky.

This was the first PTPR Score of the year for both players.

Here is how the final table participants fared in the event:
1st Arkadiy Tsinis $540,136
2nd Michael Blanovsky $336,253
3rd Randolph Lanosga $233,732
4th Pim de Goede $168,334
5th Paul Nash $123,028
6th Perry Lin $91,010
7th David Rounick $68,209
8th Ryan Laplante $51,771
9th Christopher Homan USA $39,756


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 38 No Limit Hold'em
June 22-25, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,500
Prizepool: $2,959,200
Entries: 2,192

FINAL RESULTS:
ARKADIY TSINIS 145
MICHAEL BLANOVSKY 95
RANDOLPH LANOSGA 65
PIM DE GOEDE 55
PAUL NASH 50
PERRY LIN 45
DAVID ROUNICK 45
RYAN LAPLANTE 30
CHRISTOPHER HOMAN 30
DANIEL ALDRIDGE 30
JACOB TOOLE 30
ROBERT CHEUNG 28
MATTHEW LUPTON 28
MELANIE WEISNER 28
JONATHAN SPINKS 28
MATT WILKINS 25
JAMIE ARMSTRONG 25
FRANCIS LYNCH 25

2011 WSOP: WHAT A SCHOCK! 40-YEAR OLD CONTINUES STRONG RUN

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

What a month it's been for Mitch Schock! What started with a score at the Macau Poker Cup ends with a gold bracelet - and two other PTPR Scores at the WSOP along the way ... actually, with six days left in June, there is still time for Schock to further improve on his June stats ... not bad for a 40-year old guy that had not scored any points in 2011 heading into June. The win places Schock 9th overall on the 2011 PTPR Tournament Poker Player of the Year Leaderboard.

Other notables: Carter Gill, Tyler Patterson, Rami Boukai, Joseph Hachem, ODB David Baker, Scott Clements and Roger Hairabedian.

In other news, we're going into overtime for a second straight day at the WSOP as Arkadiy Tsinis and Michael Blanovsky were unable to settle things on the "final" day of play - so both will be coming back on Saturday and we will find a winner. Here are their chip counts heading into Saturday:

1 Arkadiy Tsinis 7,110,000
2 Michael Blanovsky 2,765,000


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 39 Pot Limit Hold'Em/Omaha
June 22-24, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $2,500
Prizepool: $1,378,650
Entries: 606

FINAL RESULTS:
MITCH SCHOCK 131
RODNEY BROWN 81
JAN COLLADO 51
CARTER GILL 41
TYLER PATTERSON 36
JAMES VANNEMAN 31
DAVID LESTOCK 31
JONAS MACKOFF 16
RAMI BOUKAI 16
CAMERON NEW 16
SHAWN HATTEM 16
JOSEPH HACHEM 14
DAVID BAKER "ODB" 14
SCOTT CLEMENTS 14
ROGER HAIRABEDIAN 14
WILFRIED HARIG 11
CASTEN JOH 11
NATHAN WADE 11

PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 38 No Limit Hold'Em
June 22-24, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,500
Prizepool: $2,959,200
Entries: 2,192

PTS AT STAKE:
Bracelet Winner 145
Runner-Up 95
RANDOLPH LANOSGA 65
PIM DE GOEDE 55
PAUL NASH 50
PERRY LIN 45
DAVID ROUNICK 45
RYAN LAPLANTE 30
CHRISTOPHER HOMAN 30
DANIEL ALDRIDGE 30
JACOB TOOLE 30
ROBERT CHEUNG 28
MATTHEW LUPTON 28
MELANIE WEISNER 28
JONATHAN SPINKS 28
MATT WILKINS 25
JAMIE ARMSTRONG 25
FRANCIS LYNCH 25

2011 WSOP: LAKHITOV CONTINUES STRONG SEASON WITH BRACELET

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

Mikhail Lakhitov has had a good season so far this year - his fourth PTPR Score of the season comes with a beautiful gold bracelet!

Lakhitov and four other players had to play an extra day in order to determine the winner. It didn't take very long for sparks to fly and Lakhitov was declared the eventual winner.

Lakhitov's 142 PTPR Point score pushes him to 11th overall on the 2011 PTPR Tournament Player of the Year Leaderboard.

Eddy Sabat, James St. Hilaire, Conrad Monica, Richard Gryko, Michael Michnik, Dwyte Pilgrim and Barry Woods were other notables in the Top 18.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 36 No Limit Hold'em
June 21-24, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $2,500
Prizepool: $3,994,850
Entries: 1,734

FINAL RESULTS:
MIKHAIL LAKHITOV 142
HASSAN BABAJANE 82
THOMAS MIDDLETON 62
THOMAS MILLER 52
EDDY SABAT 47
MATTHEW BERKY 42
JAMES ST. HILAIRE 42
CONRAD MONICA 27
KENT PADGETT 27
JOHN ZENTNER 27
ALEXIS BOUCHIOUANE 27
RICHARD GRYKO 25
MICHAEL MICHNIK 25
PATRICK SMITH 25
DWYTE PILGRIM 25
BARRY WOODS 22
YUN FAN 22
ALESSIO FRATTI 22

2011 WSOP: FRENCH SOUL - FABRICE SOULIER WINS IN OVERTIME

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

It took an extra day for Fabrice Soulier to pickup his first bracelet but, he didn't mind one bit! Soulier wins the 10K H.O.R.S.E. World Championship.

The Frenchman had a huge chip leader heads up last night but, we just couldn't get things settled - that's when, around 5AM Vegas time, it was decided that the players (Soulier and Shawn Buchanan) would come back later in the day today to finish things off.

It took four hands for Soulier to dispose of Buchanan and collect the first WSOP bracelet in his career. Soulier earns his second PTPR Score of the season - he was in contention late at EPT Berlin back in April.

Many notables were in contention late: Andrey Zaichenko, Daniel Ospina, Tow Dwan, Michael Binger, Jacobo Fernandez, Max Pescatori, Kyle Loman, Joe Cassidy, Ram Vaswani, Chau Giang and John Monnette all were part of the Final 18.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 37 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship
June 21-24, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $10,000
Prizepool: $2,256,000
Entries: 240

FINAL RESULTS:
FABRICE SOULIER 127
SHAWN BUCHANAN 77
ANDREY ZAICHENKO 47
DANIEL OSPINA 37
TOM DWAN 32
MATTHEW ASHTON 27
MICHAEL BINGER 27
JACOBO FERNANDEZ 12
MAX PESCATORI 12
KYLE LOMAN 12
JOE CASSIDY 12
RAM VASWANI 10
ERIK SAGSTROM 10
FU WONG 10
CHAU GIANG 10
TOMMY HANG 7
FRANKIE O'DELL 7
JOHN MONNETTE 7

2011 WSOP: MERCIER MAKES MOVE, MOVES INTO PTPR TOP 3!

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

Back to big top at the Rio where Jason Mercier has taken the poker world by storm these last few years.

Mercier earns his second major win of the season - adding a bracelet in Event 35 5K Pot Limit Omaha Six Handed to his 10K High Rollers Bounty Shootout win at Mohegan Sun earlier this year.

Jason skyrockets up the PTPR Charts with the win - earning his sixth PTPR Score of the season - and collecting 130 PTPR along the way - good enough for a total of 277 PTPR Points, and, third place overall on the PTPR Tournament Poker Player of the Year Leaderboard, pushing Eugene Katchalov to fourth.

There is no doubting that Jason Mercier is one of the best overall poker players in the world - live, online, cash, tournaments, hold'em, mixed games, he does it all - this latest win and his #3 rank on the PTPR charts only helps to solidify the fact.

Steven Merrifield, David Chiu, Michael Timex McDonald, Greg Brooks, Chris Moorman, Daniel Fuhs, Devilfish Ulliott, Peter Jetten, Tow Dwan, Erick Lindgren and Vanessa Selbst (who entered final day play with the chip lead) were other notables in the Top 18.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 35 Pot Limit Omaha Six Handed
June 20-22, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $5,000
Prizepool: $2,382,900
Entries: 507

FINAL RESULTS:
JASON MERCIER 130
HANS WINZELER 80
STEVEN MERRIFIELD 50
DAVID CHIU 40
JOSEPH RESSLER 35
MICHAEL MCDONALD 30
GREGORY BROOKS 30
DAVID CALLAGHAN 15
ROBERT FELLNER 15
JARED BLEZNICK 15
CHRIS MOORMAN 15
DANIEL FUHS 13
DAVID ULLIOTT 13
PETER JETTEN 13
SHAWN BENNANI 13
TOM DWAN 10
ERICK LINDGREN 10
VANESSA SELBST 10

2011 WSOP: SCHMID THE LONE WINNER ON TUESDAY

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

After a thrilling run on Monday - including Phil Hellmuth's second attempt at bracelet #12 - we had a little less of an eventful night on Tuesday at the World Series of Poker.

Only one event was completed, only one bracelet was handed out - Event 34 - No Limit Hold'em - Mark Schmid was the winner when all was said and done, this is his first bracelet and first PTPR Score of the 2011.

Mitch Schock continues his strong WSOP play - earning his third PTPR Score of the 2011 season. Justin Cohen, Robbie Verspui and Ravi Raghaven all earned their second Score of the year.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 34 No Limit Hold'em
June 19-21, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,000
Prizepool: $2,829,600
Entries: 3,144

FINAL RESULTS:
MARK SCHMID 145
JUSTIN COHEN 95
ANDREW RUDNIK 65
JONATHAN CLANCY 55
TREVOR VANDERVEEN 50
BENJAMIN VOLPE 45
ROBBIE VERSPUI 45
MICHAEL SOUZA 30
JEREMY KOTTLER 30
STEVE DAVISSON 30
DANIEL SOSA 30
MITCH SCHOCK 28
PAULUS VALKENBURG 28
ALEX FINDLAY 28
DOMENICO PALESSE 28
JOHN BERREMAN 25
GENEFREDO LEGASPI 25
RAVI RAGHAVEN 25

2011 WSOP: PHIL-A-BUSTER! RODAWIG BEATS HELLMUTH

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

Who said Phil Hellmuth can only compete in Hold'em games? It may be time to take that back, jack!

Phil Hellmuth earns his second 2nd place finish in a non-hold'em event in about a week - this time, the 10K Seven Card Stud Stud Hi-Low Split-8 Championship. Could it really be? Could it be only a matter of time for Hellmuth to pickup bracelet #12? Let's be honest, most were starting to write him off, now, in about 10 days, he has gotten right back into the poker spotlight.

Hellmuth is now only a few points away from the 2011 PTPR Tournament Player of the Year Leaderboard.

We seem to be forgetting about the winner of the event, the one who spoiled the big party - he is Eric Rodawig. Rodawig (pictured, front) picks up his first ever bracelet and his first PTPR Poitns of the season.

The Final 18 was filled with notable players - including Ali Eslami who picks up 11 PTPR Points with his sixth score of the year but still sits second on the PTPR Charts while Erik Seidel picks up his fifth PTPR Score of the season.

Other notables: John Racener, Ted Forrest, David Benyamine, Joe Tehan, Anthony Lellouche, Felipe Ramos, Christopher George, Phil Laak, Bill Chen, Cyndy Violette and Chris Tryba.


In other news, Kirk Caldwell collets the bracelet in Event 32 - No Limit Hold'em. Kyle Cartright and Adam Geyer also collected PTPR Points in the event.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 32 No Limit Hold'em
June 18-20, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,500
Prizepool: $4,242,000
Entries: 2,828

FINAL RESULTS:
KIRK CALDWELL 145
BEN WHITE 95
MARC MCLAUGHLIN 65
GABRIEL MORIN 55
DROR MICHAELO 50
RANDY HADDOX 45
RODRIGO PORTALEONI 45
KYLE CARTWRIGHT 30
ALAN STEVENS 30
MICHAEL WHITFIELD 30
PHILIP LOWERY 30
DAVID PISHVAFAR 28
ADAM GEYER 28
VINCENT LUCARDIE 28
CHAMATH PALIHAPITIYA 28
DANIEL HEFFNER 25
PHAM KIMPHUC 25
JAKOB TOSTESEN 25

PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 33 7-Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 Championship
June 18-20, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $10,000
Prizepool: $1,579,200
Entries: 168

FINAL RESULTS:
ERIC RODAWIG 126
PHIL HELLMUTH 76
JOHN RACENER 46
TED FORREST 36
DAVID BENYAMINE 31
MIKHAIL SAVINOV 26
JOE TEHAN 26
ALI ESLAMI 11
ANTHONY LELLOUCHE 11
FELIPE RAMOS 11
CHRISTOPHER GEORGE 11
PHIL LAAK 9
ERIK SEIDEL 9
BILL CHEN 9
CYNDY VIOLETTE 9
CHRIS TRYBA 6

2011 WSOP: STEIN WINS A BRACELET, JUMPS INTO PTPR TOP 15

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

Sam Stein is having another fine poker season. After a good 2010 season - which including a PTPR NAPT Player of the Year Victory - Stein wins his first WSOP bracelet and, with this his third PTPR Score of the 2011 Season, enters the 2011 PTPR Tournament Player of the Year Leaderboard.

Stein now has 228 PTPR Points on the year and sits 6th in the rankings, six points behind PCA Main Event Champ Galen Hall.

Stein had some tough competition in trying to secure his first bracelet, other Top 18 notables included: Ben Lamb, Christian Harder, Adam Junglen, Brock Parker, Dilyan Kovachev, Tex Barch, Romik Vartzar, Jeremy Harkin, Andrew Chen and Rami Boukai.

In other news, James Hess won the Seniors event - over 3,700 seniors entered the event, an amazing crowd! Hess defeated Richard Harwood heads up.


PTPR PRELIM EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 30 NLH Seniors Event
June 17-19, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,000
Prizepool: $3,376,800
Entries: 3,752

FINAL RESULTS:
JAMES HESS 75
RICHARD HARWOOD 40
CRAIG KOCH 25
JOSEPH BOLNICK 15
GREGORY ALSTON 10
JAMES JEWELL 8
CHARLES COHEN 5
WALTER BROWNE 5
LEO WHITT 5

PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 31 Pot-Limit Omaha
June 17-19, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $3,000
Prizepool: $1,870,050
Entries: 685

FINAL RESULTS:
SAM STEIN 131
BEN LAMB 81
WARREN FUND 51
CHRISTIAN HARDER 41
ADAM JUNGLEN 36
ZIMNAN ZIYARD 31
BROCK PARKER 31
AUSTIN SCOTT 16
DILYAN KOVACHEV 16
TEX BARCH 16
ROMIK VARTZAR 16
JEREMY HARKIN 14
ANDREW CHEN 14
DALLAS WOTTLIN 14
HENNING DETHLEFSEN 14
GABOR GYARMATI 11
RAMI BOUKAI 11
JONATHAN CUEVAS 11

2011 WSOP: CHRIS LEE PICKS UP 10-GAME BRACELET

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

It took an extra day to find a winner in the 10-Game Mix event at the WSOP - but, we found one! Chris Lee entered the second final day with the chip lead and came out victorius.

Lee eliminated third place finisher Travis Pearson on the second hand of the day and he never looked back, defeating Brian Haveson heads up.

Shaun Deeb placed fourth in the event and, although he doesn't pickup the bracelet, he does pickup his sixth PTPR Score of the season and re-enters the 2011 PTPR Player of the Year Leaderboard. His 39 PTPR Points elevate him to the ten spot - tied with Allen Bari.

Other notables in the Top 18 included: John D'Agostino, Don McNamara, Tad Jurgens, Dan Makowsky, David The Rapter Benefield and Matt Vengrin.

FINAL TABLE PAYOUTS:
1 Chris Lee $254,955
2 Brian Haveson $157,491
3 Travis Pearson $101,258
4 Shaun Deeb $67,146
5 Kendall Fukumoto $45,839
6 John D'Agostino $32,200


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 29 10-Game Mix, 6-Handed
June 16-19, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $2,500
Prizepool: $980,525
Entries: 431

FINAL RESULTS:
CHRIS LEE 129
BRIAN HAVESON 79
TRAVIS PEARSON 49
SHAUN DEEB 39
KENDALL FUKUMOTO 34
JOHN D'AGOSTINO 29
KEVIN CHANCE 29
DON MCNAMARA 14
DAVID WHITIS 14
JOSH WEILAND 14
TAD JURGENS 14
SEPTI POPESCU 12
ROLAND ISRA 12
DANIEL MAKOWSKY 12
DAVID BENEFIELD 12
JASON STERN 9
SCOTT BOHLMAN 9
MATT VENGRIN 9

POKER ROUND-UP: RESULTS FROM FINLAND AND CALIFORNIA

PHOTO: POKERNEWS.com
SOURCE: POKERPAGES.com

We have results from Helski, Finland and from just outside of San Francisco, California...

In Helsinki, Lauri Varonen captured the Midnight Sun Poker Tournament 2K No Limit Hold'Em Event at the Grand Casino Helsinki. Varonen had some solid competition heads up as he faced tournament veteran Markus Ristola. Ristola (pictured) earns his second PTPR Score of the 2011 season. Miika Anttonen also posted a score in the event.

Back to California we go as Rellie Sigua captured the victory at the Battle of the Bay Main Event - at the Lucky Chances Casino outside of San Francisco. Sigua captures his second PTPR Score of the year.


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Midnight Sun Poker Tournament
2K No Limit Hold'Em Event
June 8-9, 2011

Grand Casino Helsinki
Helsinki, FIN

Buy-in: $3,005
Prizepool: $366,464
Entries: 128

FINAL RESULTS:
LAURI VARONEN 35
MARKUS ONNI RISTOLA 18
MIKAEL ANDERSSON 10
ILYA SAVOLAINEN 8
MIIKA ANTTONEN 5

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Battle of the Bay
No Limit Hold'em Main Event
June 12, 2011

Lucky Chances Casino
Colma, California, USA

Buy-in: $1,080
Prizepool: $293,110
Entries: 284

FINAL RESULTS:
RELLIE SIGUA 35
NGOC BUI 18
UNKNOWN 10
JOSEPH CHRISTMAN 8
ROB DECRISTOFGRI 5

POKER ROUND-UP: MORE FROM THE VENETIAN - LYKOV GETS 6TH SCORE

PHOTO: POKERNEWS.com
SOURCE: POKERPAGES.com

Maxim Lykov continues to earn PTPR Scores this season. Lykov has once again scored points - this time at the Venetian Deep Stack series currently ongoing at the Venetian in Las Vegas. We have three events from this past week that have qualified for PTPR Points.

Sticking with Lykov's result, he placed fourth in the 2.5K buy-in NLH Event - Event 15 of the series - Adel Jo won the event while Jesse Cohen and Masaaki Kagawa were two other notables in the Top 5.

Ealier in the week, Ben Sagan picked up a win in NLH Event 14 - Anthony Yeh placed fifth in the event.

Meanwhile, NLH Event 18 was also completed - with Oscar Castanga Jr. picking up the victory - Seth Fischer placed third, collecting his second PTPR Score of the year.


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza
Event 14 No Limit Hold'em
June 9-11, 2011

Venetian Hotel Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,590
Prizepool: $438,592
Entries: 303

FINAL RESULTS:
BEN SAGAN 35
BRIAN ODONOGHUE 18
EMMITT MCGILL 10
WILLIAM PHILLIPS 8
ANTHONY YEH 5

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza
Event 15 No Limit Hold'em
June 10-12, 2011

Venetian Hotel Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $2,500
Prizepool: $511,116
Entries: 223

FINAL RESULTS:
ADEL JO 35
JESSE COHEN 18
JEFFREY LITTLEFIELD 10
MAXIM LYKOV 8
MASAAKI KAGAWA 5

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza
Event 18 No Limit Hold'em
June 13-15, 2011

Venetian Hotel Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,590
Prizepool: $510,968
Entries: 353

FINAL RESULTS:
OSCAR CASTANGA JR. 35
FILIPP KHAVIN 18
SETH FISCHER 10
MATTHEW LAGARDE 8
MARK BUSCH 5

2011 WSOP: IT'S ANDY FRANKENBERGER'S TIME TO SHINE

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

Reigning World Poker Tour Player of the Year Andy Frankenberger added his first World Series of Poker bracelet to his trophy case earlier this morning at the WSOP.

Frankenberger won Event 28 - No Limit Hold'em - a prize pool a little south of four million dollars was on the line.

Frankenberger defeated Josh Evans heads up for his first PTPR Score of the 2011 season (this was Evans' second).

Owen Crowe, Tyler Kenney, Steven Merrifield, Frederik Jensen, Mickey Petersen and Jacobo Fernandez were other notables attempting to prevent Andy from collecting his first bracelet.

Meanwhile, we will have to wait an extra day to find a winner in Event 29 - the 10-Game Six Handed event. The bracelet was to be awarded earlier this morning but, we simply could not get it done on time.

Shaun Deeb held the chip lead for a while sadly, he went out in 4th and isn't part of the final three that are coming back today - those three are Chris Lee, Brian Haveson and Travis Pearson - here are their chip stacks:

Chris Lee 1,425,000
Brian Haveson 997,000
Travis Pearson 813,000


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 28 No Limit Hold'Em
June 16-18, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,500
Prizepool: $3,375,000
Entries: 2,500

FINAL RESULTS:
ANDY FRANKENBERGER 145
JOSHUA EVANS 95
ROBERT SHORTWAY 65
OWEN CROWE 55
TYLER KENNEY 50
STEVEN MERRIFIELD 45
THAO NGUYEN 45
SIDNEY HASSON 30
BRET HRUBY 30
GEOFFREY LAY 30
KARL JOHANSSON 30
JEFFERSON LASECKI 28
STEPHEN FALCON 28
FREDERIK JENSEN 28
MICKEY PETERSEN 28
ALEKSANDR MOZHNYAKOV 25
JACOBO FERNANDEZ 25
GABRIEL ROULEAU 25

2011 WSOP: KOVALCHUK, IDEMA FRIDAY WINNERS AT WSOP

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

Non-Americans continue to pickup bracelets at the WSOP - Oleksil Kovalchuk picks up the win in Event 26 - 5K NLH Six Handed while Daniel Idema wins the Limit Hold'em Championship; the second Canadian in as many days to pickup a bracelet - Mark Radoja won the 5K NLH Shootout on Thursday.

Kovalchuk survived the likes of Ionel Anton, Chris Moorman, Dan O'Brien, Anthony Ruberto, Will The Thrill Failla, Benjamin Pollak, Anthony Lellouche, Jesse Cohen, Tyler Cornell and Rupert Elder on the way to his win.

While Idema's win comes at the hands of Greenstein, Landfish, Denotaristefa, Justin Smith, Haxton, Schulman, Corkins, Darren Woods, Brodie, Hawrilenko, Mortensen, Smirnov and Michael Schneider.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 26 NLH Six Handed
June 15-17, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $2,500
Prizepool: $3,134,950
Entries: 1,378

FINAL RESULTS:
OLEKSIL KOVALCHUK 138
IONEL ANTON 88
CHRIS MOORMAN 58
DAN O'BRIEN 48
MAZIN KHOURY 43
ANTHONY RUBERTO 38
WILL FAILLA 38
ERIC HETTINGA 23
BENJAMIN POLLAK 23
ANTHONY LELLOUCHE 23
JESSE JAMES 23
DANIEL MORGAN 21
CHRISITIAN KOHL 21
SAMUEL GRAFTON 21
MICHAEL FINSTEIN 21
JESSE COHEN 18
TYLER CORNELL 18
RUPERT ELDER 18


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 27 Limit Hold'Em Championship
June 15-17, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $10,000
Prizepool: $1,428,800
Entries: 152

FINAL RESULTS:
DANIEL IDEMA 126
MATTHEW GALIN 76
BARRY GREENSTEIN 46
STEVE LANDFISH 36
DOMENICO DENOTARISTEFANI 21
JUSTIN SMITH 26
ISAAC HAXTON 26
RICHARD BRODIE 11
NICK SCHULMAN 11
HOYT CORKINS 11
DARREN WOODS 11
TAM HANG 9
MATT HAWRILENKO 9
MARWAN ABDELAL 9
CARLOS MORTENSEN 9
MIKHAIL SMIRNOV 6
IAN JOHNS 6
MICHAEL SCHNEIDER 6

2011 WSOP: VIOX HOLDS OFF SEXTON TO EARN FIRST BRACELET

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

Chris Viox prevented Mike Sexton from picking up another bracelet by beating him heads up only a few hours ago. Viox wins Event 25 - Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low, 8 or better.

Viox picks up his first bracelet with the victory. For Sexton, it's the continuation of a productive season. He has surpassed the 100-PTPR Points mark for the year.

Cory Zeidman, David Warga, Tony Ma, Norman Chad, Kirill Gerasimov and Cyndy Violette were other runners to score in the event.

Meanwhile, Mark Radoja outlasted a bunch of known players to pickup the win in Event 24 - the 5K NLH Shootout.

Erik Seidel picked up his fourth PTPR Score of the season while 2010 Card Player POY Tom Marchese picked up his second PTPR Score of the year with his 8th place finish. 9th place finisher Sean Getzwiller scored 13 PTPR Points and moves into the 2011 PTPR Tournament Player of the Year Top 15 Leaderboard.

Other names in the Top 18 included: Jeffrey Gross, Scott Baumstein, Adam Junglen, Todd Terry, Daniel Smith, Nicholas Mitchell, Jordan Young, James Akenhead, Gavin Smith and JP Kelly.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 24 No Limit Hold'em Shootout
June 14-16, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $5,000
Prizepool: $1,818,900
Entries: 387

FINAL RESULTS:
MARK RADOJA 128
JEFFREY GROSS 78
NICOLAS FIERROGOTTNER 48
SCOTT BAUMSTEIN 38
ADAM JUNGLEN 33
NIKITA LEBEDEV 28
TODD TERRY 28
TOM MARCHESE 13
SEAN GETZWILLER 13
DANIEL SMITH 13
YASUHIRO WAKI 13
KYLE FREY 11
NICHOLAS MITCHELL 11
JORDAN YOUNG 11
JAMES AKENHEAD 11
GAVIN SMITH 8
ERIK SEIDEL 8
JP KELLY 8


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 25 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low 8 or Better
June 14-16, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,500
Prizepool: $818,110
Entries: 606

FINAL RESULTS:
CHRIS VIOX 131
MIKE SEXTON 81
GERARD RECHNITZER 51
HAKON LUNDBERG 41
TYSON MARKS 36
CORY ZEIDMAN 31
SEAN URBAN 31
HERNAN SALAZAR 16
DAVID WARGA 16
TONY MA 16
CHRISTOPHER MCHUGH 16
NORMAN CHAD 14
KIRILL GERASIMOV 14
MARC FLUSS 14
CYNDY VIOLETTE 14
JAMES WHEATLEY 11
JOHN PAPPAS 11
BRIAN TWETE 11

2011 WSOP: PAYAN, MONNETTE PICKUP BRACELETS

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

Short report for you folks tonight.

Event 22 - Pot Limit Omaha
Frenchman Elie Payan captured the title, defeating Doc Sands, Ronald Israelashvili, Benjamin Parker, Michael Kamran and Ryan Welch along the way.

Event 23 - Eight-Game Mix Event
John Monnette picked up the victory and defeated a laundry list of quality opponents: Eric Buchman (who's having a great start to the WSOP), Michele Limongi, Brent Hanks, John Juanda, November Niner John Racener, Rami Boukai, Owais Ahmed, Pispala, Ben Yu, Maya Roca Uribe, Gregory Dyer and Marco Traniello.

Juanda collects his second PTPR Score of the year (both this week at the WSOP) places him a single point off of the 2011 PTPR Tournament Player of the Year Top 15 Leaderboard.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 22 No Limit Hold'em
June 13-15, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,500
Prizepool: $1,445,850
Entries: 1,071

FINAL RESULTS:
ELIE PAYAN 135
RAFE KIBRIT 85
DAVID SANDS 55
JUHA VILKKI 45
STEPHEN WOLFE 40
EMIL PATEL 35
CODY MUNGER 35
JEFF SARWER 20
ROLAND ISRAELASHVILI 20
BENJAMIN PARKER 20
FRANK PEELEN 20
NATHAN GAMBLE 18
MICHAEL KAMRAN 18
RYAN WELCH 18
QUINN DO 18
RICHARD RINKER 15
TIMOTHY SEIDENSTICKER 15
JOHN ORLINA 15


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 23 Eight-Game Mix Event
June 13-15, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $2,500
Prizepool: $1,112,475
Entries: 489

FINAL RESULTS:
JOHN MONNETTE 129
ERIC BUCHMAN 79
MICHELE LIMONGI 49
BRENT HANKS 39
DESMOND PORTANO 34
JOHN JUANDA 29
ADAM KORNUTH 29
JOHN RACENER 14
ADAM GEYER 14
RAMI BOUKAI 14
OWAIS AHMED 14
MIKKO PISPALA 12
BEN YU 12
HOOMAN NIKZAD 12
MAYU ROCA URIBE 12
GREGORY DYER 9
ROBERT ROSENGARTEN 9
MARCO TRANIELLO 9

2011 WSOP: ElkY, SOMERVILLE LATEST TO PICKUP JEWELRY

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

Step aside amateurs, the Pros have taken over at the WSOP! Two known pros collected their first first piece of WSOP jewelry early Wednesday morning.

First, uber-popular worldwide star Bertrand Grospellier - better known as ElkY - has collected his Poker Triple Crown - becoming the fourth player in poker history to win a WPT, EPT and WSOP title. ElkY's Triple Crown comes only ten days after fellow European player Jake Cody won his.

ElkY won the 10K Seven Card Stud Championship event, an event with a prize pool north of 1M bucks!

The win propels ElkY into the 2011 PTPR Player of the Year race - he jumps up to 4th overall with 237 PTPR Points, 22 points behind Eugene Katchalov.

Grospellier had to avoid big names en route to his bracelet win ... other notables in the Top 18 included: Steve Landfish, Maxwell Troy, John World Hennigan, Alexander Kostritsyn, Downtown Chad Brown, Chris Tryba, The Takeover Nick Schulman, Men The Master Nguyen, 2010 PTPR and Bluff Player of the Year Sorel Mizzi, Christopher George, Ville Wahlbeck, Jason Mercier and Matt Glantz.

Mercier collects his fifth PTPR Score of the 2011 season and inches closer and closer to the PTPR Top 15 Leaderboard.


Meanwhile, in the No Limit Hold'em event that ended a few hours before ElkY's win, another known pro, Jason Somerville collected his first career major live tournament victory. The Long Island native outlasted a field of 3,175 players wiht a total prize pool a little over 100k short of two million!!

Tim West collected his first WSOP points of 2011. West, who earned 28 points with his 15th place finish, actually moves back a spot to 6th on the 2011 PTPR Tournament Player of the Year Leaderboard due to ElkY's victory.

James Schaaf, Brett Shaffer, Lex Veldhuis and Michael Blocksidge also finished in the Top 18.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 20 No Limit Hold'em
June 12-14, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,000
Prizepool: $2,857,500
Entries: 3,175

FINAL RESULTS:
JASON SOMERVILLE 145
YASHAR DARIAN 95
TRAVIS ATKINS 65
RICHARD FRIDVALSZKI 55
ALEX MARTIN 50
GIAN CARLOS OLIVERI 45
DIANA ALLEN 45
SHANE ROSE 30
JAMES SCHAAF 30
BRETT SHAFFER 30
LEX VELDHUIS 30
THOMAS CONWAY 28
DEJUANTE ALEXANDER 28
MAXIMILIAN LEHMANSKI 28
TIM WEST 28
MICHAEL BLOCKSIDGE 25
STEVEN MILLER 25
MICHAEL CLARK 25


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 21 Seven-Card Stud Championship
June 12-14, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $10,000
Prizepool: $1,184,400
Entries: 126

FINAL RESULTS:
BERTRAND GROSPELLIER "ElkY" 126
STEVE LANDFISH 76
MAXWELL TROY 46
JOHN HENNIGAN 36
ALEXANDER KOSTRITSYN 31
CHAD BROWN 26
KEVIN TANG 26
CHRIS TRYBA 11
NICK SCHULMAN 11
MEN NGUYEN 11
SOREL MIZZI 11
CHRISTOPHER GEORGE 9
VILLE WAHLBECK 9
JASON MERCIER 9
MATT GLANTZ 9
MATT HAWRILENKO 6

2011 WSOP: WOODS WINS LIMIT EVENT, KUZMIN MOVES INTO TOP 15

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

Darren Woods won Event 19 - Limit Hold'em / Six Handed - late on Monday night.

Woods collects his first PTPR Points of the season with the win and captures his first bracelet in the process.

The chip leader heading into final day play was Alexander Kuzmin - who had eyes on a Top 5 spot on the 2011 PTPR Tournament Player of the Year Leaderboard - Kuzmin secured a fourth place finish, still, good enough to takeover the #7 Rank on the PTPR charts.

Matt Matros, William Kakon and Vegas grinder Sam Grizzle also finished in the Top 18.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 19 Limit Hold'em Six-Handed
June 11-13, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $2,500
Prizepool: $2,655,000
Entries: 354

FINAL RESULTS:
DARREN WOODS 128
KIM NGUYEN 78
SAMUEL GOLBUFF 48
ALEXANDER KUZMIN 38
ANDREY ZALCHENKO 33
GABRIEL NASSIF 28
RICHARD LYNDAKER 28
SCOTT STANKO 13
JAY PINKUSSOHN 13
JOE GUALTIERI 13
MATT SCHREIBER 13
MATT MATROS 11
WILLIAM KAKON 11
JAVIER TORRESOLA 11
MASSIMILIANO MARTINEZ 11
MICHAEL WINNETT 8
SAM GRIZZLE 8
JESSE CHINNI 8

2011 WSOP: HAYS NEEDS EXTRA DAY TO CAPTURE FIRST BRACELET

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

It took an extra day to complete, but, we're finally done with Event 18 - 1.5K NLH. The impressive crowd of over 3,000 runners battled it out for four days, working a little overtime, and Foster Hays has secured the victory.

Others in the Top 18 included Tristan Wade and Jordan Young.



PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 18 No Limit Hold'em
June 11-14, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,500
Prizepool: $4,261,950
Entries: 3,157

FINAL RESULTS:
FOSTER HAYS 145
CASEY KELTON 95
JEFFREY LAVELLE 65
ALLAN LE 55
STANLEY TAVANESE 50
ROBERT KOSS 45
TRISTAN WADE 45
PHILIPPE VERT 30
JORDAN YOUNG 30
ANDREA VEZZANI 30
BRUCE ANTMAN 30
ISAAC KIRCHNER 28
MATTHEW DAVIS 28
TOM CARMAN 28
WILLIAM DOUGLAS-SMITH 28
MATTHEW WOOD 25
DYLAN THOMASSIE 25
SHOAIB MAKANI 25

SAMMY HUANG WINS ANZPT CANBERRA

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERSTARSBLOG.com

Sammy Huang is the latest Champion on the Pokerstars Austrlia New Zealand Poker Tour. Huang just captured the ANZPT Canberra crown. Tony Kambouroglou and Khiem Nguyen also ended up in the Top 5.


Even heads up took a heck of a time to play out. Pavic had the early lead but once Sanchez Cebollada clawed back to take the chip lead, he never looked back.

Here are the Top 10 finishers (in AUD):
1st Sammy Huang - $73,700
2nd James Broom - $46,900
3rd Tony Kambouroglou - $27,470
4th Khiem Nguyen - $22,780
5th Leigh Warne - $18,760
6th Luke Edwards - $15,410
7th Andrew Watson - $12,730
8th Tristan Bain - $10,050
9th George Graziani - $8,040
10th David Gorr - $6,030


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Australia New Zealand Poker Tour Canberra
Pokerstars ANZPT Canberra Main Event
June 10-13, 2011

Casino Canberra
Canberra, AUS

Buy-in: $2,325
Prizepool: $283,165
Entries: 134

FINAL RESULTS:
SAMMY HUANG 35
JAMES BROOM 18
TONY KAMBOUROGLOU 10
KHIEM NGUYEN 8
LEIGH WARNE 5

2011 WSOP: STEURY THE BIG HORSE, RAMDIN MOVES UP

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

Aaron Steury collected the first WSOP bracelet of his poker career by surviving a fantastic field of almost 1,000 other runners in Event 17 - H.O.R.S.E.

Steury (pictured) had some stiff competition heading into the final day of play as name players such as Michael Chow (runner-up), Jonathan Tamayo, Victor Ramdin, Tristan Clemencon (who had a huge online rail of fellow French pros) and Todd Brunson were all in contention.

For Ramdin, this is his fifth PTPR Score of the season. His 19 PTPR Points collected in the event means that he jumps 9 spots on the PTPR charts, he returns to the 2011 PTPR Player of the Year Leaderboard with this score - he sits 14th.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 17 H.O.R.S.E.
June 10-12, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,500
Prizepool: $1,300,050
Entries: 963

FINAL RESULTS:
AARON STEURY 134
MICHAEL CHOW 84
ADAM FRIEDMAN 54
JONATHAN TAMAYO 44
RON WARE 39
DENIS ETHIER 34
PAOLO COMPAGNO 34
VICTOR RAMDIN 19
TRISTAN CLEMENCON 19
DAVID ARSHT 19
SCOTT LAKE 19
DREW BOYETT 17
DAVID BACH 17
JOSH SCHLEIN 17
MICHAEL HOROWITZ 17
KEVIN MARCUS 14
NICHOLAS KOST 14
TODD BRUNSON 14

SANCHEZ CEBOLLADA WINS MARATHON AT UNIBET OPEN BARCELONA

PHOTO/SOURCE: UNIBETOPEN.com

It certainly took a long, long, long time to find a winner but, we finally know who the next Unibet Open Barcelona Champion is - Ruben Sanchez Cebollada outlasted Davor Pavic heads up in what was an epic final table that seemed to have last days!

Even heads up took a heck of a time to play out. Pavic had the early lead but once Sanchez Cebollada clawed back to take the chip lead, he never looked back.


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Unibet Open Barcelona
NLH Main Event
June 9-12, 2011

Casino Barcelona
Barcelona, Spain

Buy-in: $2,365
Prizepool: $791,565
Entries: 387

FINAL RESULTS:
RUBEN SANCHEZ CEBOLLADA 35
DAVOR PAVIC 18
PIM VAN RIET 10
JOSE FUENTES MARIN 8
EMILIO MUNOZ DOMINGUEZ 5

POKER ROUND-UP 2 OF 2: EMOP BULGARIA AND THE MACAU CUP

PHOTO: POKERSTARSBLOG.com
SOURCE: POKERPAGES.com

While most are at the WSOP at the Rio in Vegas, the rest of the world are still playing tournaments in other casinos!

Here is update 2 of 2 from results from around the world - this update looks at recent results from the Euro Masters of Poker Bulgaria and the Macau Poker Cup

Congratulations to Abdula Atila Seiar - winner of the European Masters of Poker Bulgaria Main Event. He defeated Riku Molander heads up.

Meanwhile the Macau Poker Cup events were recently completed. The Red Dragon Main Event saw Canadian Kwan Mah (pictured) capture the title. In the High Rollers event, Rahul Byrraju picked up the win.


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
European Masters of Poker Bulgaria
EMOP Bulgaria Main Event
June 1-5, 2011

Crystal Crown Casino
Bulgaria

Buy-in: $1,575
Prizepool: $396,140
Entries: 276

FINAL RESULTS:
ABDULA ATILA SEIAR 35
RIKU MOLANDER 18
LUKA VOVK 10
KIRIL DONOVSKI 8
MIKKO TASKINEN 5

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Macau Poker Cup
NLH Red Dragon Main Event
June 1-5, 2011

Grand Lisboa Casino
Macau

Buy-in: $1,410
Prizepool: $576,745
Entries: 447

FINAL RESULTS:
KWAN PAO MAH 35
HAIFENG XUE 18
CONRAD COETZER 10
TIMPSON TIM SHUN LUK 8
MATHEW WENG CHIH CHAN 5

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Macau Poker Cup
NLH High Rollers
June 4-5, 2011

Grand Lisboa Casino
Macau

Buy-in: $3,870
Prizepool: $243,271
Entries: 69

FINAL RESULTS:
RAHUL BYRRAJU 35
NEIL ARCE 18
JUSTIN LOWE 10
KENICHI TAKAKI 8
CHO FAI WONG 5

POKER ROUND-UP 1 OF 2: VENETIAN DEEPSTACK, EVERGLADES OPEN

PHOTO: POKERNEWS.com
SOURCE: POKERPAGES.com

While most are at the WSOP at the Rio in Vegas, the rest of the world are still playing tournaments in other casinos!

Here is update 1 of 2 from results from around the world - this update looks at recent US results at the Venetian Deep Stack in Vegas and the Everglades Poker Open at the Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida!


Two results from the Venetian Deepstacks - this event is still ongoing - where Clint Coffee (pictured) and Manh Nguyen took home victories.

Coffee won Event 4 and defeated the likes of Jesse Cohen and Samuel Iola along the way. Meanwhile in Event 6, Nguyen outlasted James Tolbert heads up.

Poker continues to boom in the State of Florida! The Seminole Hard Rock hosted the Everglades Poker Open and Fred Goldberg earned the win. Brian Hawkins finished fifth in the event.


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza
Event 4 No Limit Hold'em
May 31-2, 2011

Venetian Hotel Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,070
Prizepool: $264,410
Entries: 274

FINAL RESULTS:
CLINT COFFEE 35
GRIFFIN BENGER 18
JESSE COHEN 10
SAMUEL IOLA 8
JERRY WONG 5

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza
Event 6 No Limit Hold'em
May 31-2, 2011

Venetian Casino Resort
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,590
Prizepool: $295,290
Entries: 204

FINAL RESULTS:
MANH NGUYEN 35
JAMES TOLBERT 18
DENIS GNIDASH 10
DEREK BUONANO 8
ALEX GIVOTOVSKY 5

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Everglades Poker Open
NLH Championship
May 27-28, 2011

Seminole Hard Rock Casino
Hollywood, Florida, USA

Buy-in: $1,600
Prizepool: $261,000
Entries: 174

FINAL RESULTS:
FRED GOLDBERG 35
FARID JATTIN 18
MUKUL PAHUJA 10
RICHARD KIRSCH 8
BRIAN HAWKINS 5

2011 WSOP: SUPERSTAR SATURDAY - RAST, JUANDA PLAY SPOILERS

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

The Superstars of Poker invaded the Rio's Amazon Room on Saturday night but only two left with bracelets!

Let's start with Event 15 - Pot Limit Hold'em. It was a thrilling final two with Brian Rast stopping fan favorite Allen "Chainsaw" Kessler in the end. Kessler's online rail was massive and most were disapointed when Rast finally pulled it off.

Also at the final table was Ali Eslami - the 32 PTPR Points collected moves him up one spot to 2nd overall on the 2011 PTPR Player of the Year Leaderboard - surpassing Eugene Katchalov in the process.

John Gordon, Ted Lawson, Ronald Lee and Christin Harder also collected PTPR Points in this event.


But the major buzz of the night came from Event 16 - Deuce to Seven Lowball World Championship - where Phil Hellmuth was momnets away from bracelet number twelve.

Alas, The Poker Brat was not able to finish off John Juanda when he had the opportunity. Hellmuth seemed to have control of the final table when we were down to five players but Juanda held him off, collecting his fifth bracelet.

It was a who's who of poker stars when we hit the money. Richard Ashby, Steve Sung, Nick Schulman, David "Bakes" Baker (who won the event last year), Hasan Habib, Joe Cassidy, Greg Raymer, ElkY, Johnny Chan, Brandon Cantu and Chino Rheem all finished in the money.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 14 Pot Limit Hold'em
June 9-11, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,500
Prizepool: $1,032,750
Entries: 765

FINAL RESULTS:
BRIAN RAST 132
ALLEN KESSLER 82
DAJUAN WHORLEY 52
DAISUKE ENDO 42
MIKE PAASONEN 37
ALI ESLAMI 32
JOHN GORDON 32
TED LAWSON 17
RONALD LEE 17
ANDREW COHEN 17
ELIAS BRUSSIANOS 17
JEREMY VAUGHN 15
TOMMY FELICE 15
ARIEL CELESTINO 15
NICK DAVIES 15
CHARLES RITCHIE 12
CHRISTIAN HARDER 12
DAVID MERCER 12

PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 15 Deuce to Seven Lowball World Championship
June 9-11, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $10,000
Prizepool: $1,184,400
Entries: 126

FINAL RESULTS:
JOHN JUANDA 126
PHIL HELLMUTH 76
RICHARD ASHBY 46
STEVE SUNG 36
NICK SCHULMAN 31
DAVID BAKER "BAKES" 26
HASAN HABIB 26
JOE CASSIDY 11
GREG RAYMER 11
BENJAMIN PARKER 11
BERTRAND GROSPELLIER "ElkY" 11
JOHNNY CHAN 9
BRANDON CANTU 9
CHINO RHEEM 9

2011 WSOP: BADECKER, BONKOWSKI WIN BRACELETS

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

The star players are starting to score points at the WSOP but still, lesser known players are picking up the bracelets!

Andrew Badecker wins Event 13 - NLH Shootout. Jonathan Spinks earned his third PTPR Score of the year with his fourth place finish. 2010 WSOP Player of the Year Frank Kassela finished 13th.

Other Top 18 notables included: Robbie Verspui, Daniel Makowsky, Eric Cajelais, Dan Kelly, Vitaly Lunkin, David Pham, Lars Bonding, Andrew Pantling and Daniel Fischer.


Meanwhile, the WSOP handed out a bracelet to Tyler Bonkowski, the winner of Event 14 - 3K NLH. Bonkowski's second score of the PTPR Season has him just a few points out of the PTPR Player of the Year Leaderboard.

Andrew Brongo, Mitch Schock, Dmitry Gromov and Alex Keating also earned their second PTPR Score in this event. Other notables included: Matt Sterling, Casey McCarrel, Jeff Shulman, Victor Ramdin, Mark Gryglik and 2010 PTPR Player of the Year Sorel Mizzi.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 13 No Limit Hold'em Shootout
June 8-10, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,500
Prizepool: $1,944,000
Entries: 1,440

FINAL RESULTS:
ANDREW BADECKER 139
ROBBIE VERSPUI 89
DANIEL MAKOWSKY 59
JONATHAN SPINKS 49
ERIK CAJELAIS 44
DAN KELLY 39
VITALY LUNKIN 39
JOSEPH WEBBER 24
DAVID PHAM 24
LARS BONDING 24
ROBERT SMITH 24
ANDREW PANTLING 22
FRANK KASSELA 22
DAVID ROBINSON 22
ERIC YATES 22
DANIEL FISCHER 19
CARTER SWIDLER 19
FRANK RUSNAK 19

PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 14 No Limit Hold'em
June 8-10, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $3,000
Prizepool: $920,010
Entries: 360

FINAL RESULTS:
TYLER BONKOWSKI 128
BRANDON DEMES 78
ANDREW BRONGO 48
SHAWN KELLER 38
MATT STERLING 33
MITCH SCHOCK 28
CASEY MCCARREL 28
RON BURKE 13
JEFF SHULMAN 13
LEO LABBE 13
JEREMY HEATBERG 13
DMITRY GROMOV 11
VICTOR RAMDIN 11
MICHAEL SHIFFMAN 11
MARK GRYGLIK 11
SOREL MIZZI 8
MATTHEW SUELFLOW 8
ALEX KEATING 8

2011 WSOP: DAVID DIAZ THE LATEST BRACELET WINNER

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

David Diaz came into this year's WSOP wanting to win two bracelets, at least, he had a feeling he would. Well, a week into this year's event, he's already half-way there.



Diaz defeated a tough crowd at Event 12 - Triple Chance No Limit Hold'em. Bill Chen, Daniel Smith and Sam Trickett were some of the other players breathing down Diaz' neck near the end.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 12 Triple Chance No Limit Hold'em
June 7-9, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,500
Prizepool: $1,809,000
Entries: 1,340

FINAL RESULTS:
DAVID DIAZ 138
ANDERS MELI 88
ANDREA DATO 58
BILL CHEN 48
COREY HASTINGS 43
RICHARD TRIGG 38
JUSTIN STERNBERG 38
NICHOLAS RAMPONE 23
MATTHEW HENSON 23
STEVE WATTS 23
DANIEL SMITH 23
DENIS GNIDASH 21
DANIEL QUESADA 21
ANTHONY FUNG 21
AMRITAKSHA BASU 21
SAM TRICKETT 18
BRADLEY MCFARLAND 18
MATS GAVATIN 18

2011 WSOP: TURNER ABOUT TO GO FOR FIRST BRACELET

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

With three players left in the marathon that we call the 1K - 4,000 plus participants - play was called due to "darkness". Ok, it's because it was almost 5AM in Las Vegas, the sun was coming up and the tournament director felt we all had enough.

So, here we go, minutes away from the final three participants hitting the felt. Among them is Jon "Pearljammer" Turner who is looking for his first ever bracelet win.

Turner has had tons of success on line but he's still looking for that one big score live. Turner will enter today's play third in chips, he will be joined by Sean Getzwiller and chip leader Sadan Turker when we begin.

Seat 2 Sean Getzwiller USA 3,000,000
Seat 6 Sadan Turker UK 7,910,000
Seat 7 Jon Turner USA 1,680,000


In other WSOP News, current PTPR Tournament Player of the Year leader Alessio Isaia is at it again. Isais is amongst the Final 18 participants at the Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better World Championship.

Isaia will collect a minimum 7 PTPR Points but could pickup up to 127 PTPR Points with the win. He currently sits 6th in chips with 400k.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 8 No Limit Hold'em
June 4-9, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,000
Prizepool: $3,760,200
Entries: 4,178

FINAL RESULTS:
Bracelet Winner 145
Runner-Up 95
3rd place 65
MAX WEINBERG 55
STEFAN RAFFAY 50
LAWRENCE RILEY 45
HUNTER REY 45
DANIEL HAGLUND 30
ODETTE TREMBLAY 30
JONATHAN DRISCOLL 30
RICKY FOHRENBACH 30
BRANDON SHANE 28
JOHN GORDON 28
KIM FREDERIKSEN 28
JOHN EAMES 28
CHASE OLSEN 25
DAVID JONES 25
YOUNG JI 25

2011 WSOP: PERRINS DOMINANT IN FIRST BRACELET VICTORY

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

For the longest time on Monday, it looked as if Matt Perrins was a 2-7 Draw Lowball prodigy - dominating final table play and capturing his first WSOP bracelet along the way.

Perrins' performance was impressive indeed - the fact that he had tremendous competion made it even more awesome.

Amongst the defeated, Jason Mercier picked up his fourth PTPR Score of the season with his 7th place finish in this event. Mercier sits only a few points behind in the PTPR Tournament Player of the Year rankings.

Other notables acquiring PTPR Points in this event included: Runner-up Chris Bjorin, Bernard Lee, Thomas Fuller, Josh Brikis, Aaron Schaff, Travis Pearson, Dan Kelly, Romik Vartzar, Don McNamara, Sean Snyder and Greg Mueller.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 9 Limit Hold'em
June 4-6, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,500
Prizepool: $371,250
Entries: 275

FINAL RESULTS:
MATT PERRINS 127
CHRIS BJORIN 77
ROBIN RIGHTMIRE 47
BERNARD LEE 37
THOMAS FULLER 32
JOSH BRIKIS 27
JASON MERCIER 27
AARON SCHAFF 12
TRAVIS PEARSON 12
AVERY CARDOZA 12
DAN KELLY 12
ROMIK VARTZAR 10
RAMI BOUKAI 10
DON MCNAMARA 10
DON ZEWIN 10
SEAN SNYDER 7
DONALD WALSH 7
GREG MUELLER 7

2011 WSOP: WILDER, LEHAVOT LATEST BRACELET WINNERS

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

Two bracelets were awarded last night at the WSOP. In Event 6 (Limit Hold'Em), Harrison Wilder picked up his first career bracelet outlasting players such as John Myung, Mitch Schock, Scott Clements, Matt Matros (who won the event last year) and Jeff Williams.

For Clements, Matros and Williams, this was their second PTPR Score of the season.

Amit Lehavot's (pictured) third score of the PTRP season earned him a bracelet in Event 7 - 10K Pot Limit Hold'em World Championship. Lehavot moves up to 7th on the PTPR Player of the Year Leaderboard, five points ahead of Allen Bari, who also won a bracelet on Sunday.

The Final 18 was full of known pro players. Jonathan Jaffe earned his fourth of the PTPR Season.

Other notables in the Top 18 included: Jarred Solomon, Sam Stein, Nicolas Levi, Eric Cloutier, McLean Karr, Michael Benvenuti, Toby Lewis, Robert Mizrachi, Jason Dewitt, Jason Somerville, Owen Crowe, Thorsten Schafer and Chris Moorman.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 6 Limit Hold'em
June 3-5, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,500
Prizepool: $911,250
Entries: 675

FINAL RESULTS:
HARRISON WILDER 131
THOMAS JAMIESON 81
JOHN MYUNG 51
WILLIAM DAVIS 41
MATTHEW ELSBY 36
SEAN NGUYEN 31
CRAIG LABEN 31
MITCH SCHOCK 16
SCOTT CLEMENTS 16
TIMOTHY CHAUSER 16
MATT MATROS 16
CHRIS OVERGARD 14
BRYAN PIMLOTT 14
JEFF WILLIAMS 14
PAUL SCHUMER 14
MICHAEL MOORE 11
CHARLES VARGAS 11
ROBERT SLEZAK 11


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 7 Pot Limit Hold'em 10K World Championship
June 3-5, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $10,000
Prizepool: $2,340,600
Entries: 249

FINAL RESULTS:
AMIT LEHAVOT 127
JARRED SOLOMON 77
SAM STEIN 47
STEPHEN CHIDWICK 37
TOMMY VINAS 32
NICOLAS LEVI 27
ERIC CLOUTIER 27
MCLEAN KARR 12
MICHAEL BENVENUTI 12
JONATHAN JAFFE 12
TOBY LEWIS 12
ROBERT MIZRACHI 10
JASON DEWITT 10
JASON SOMERVILLE 10
OWEN CROWE 10
GARY RABIN 7
THORSTEN SCHAFER 7
CHRIS MOORMAN 7

2011 WSOP: BARI SURVIVES MARIA HO'S ATTACK, WINS FIRST BRACELET

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

Maria Ho gave it the old college try but in the end, Allen Bari's chip lead proved to be unsurmountable. Ho did have quite the cheering section rooting her on but this was Allen Bari's tournament to win - and he sure did just that.


First bracelet for Bari who steps into the PTPR Tournament Player of the Year Top 15 Leaderboard. The outspoke Bari earned his third PTPR Score of the season with the win.

This tournament was supposed to end on Saturday but, as Final Four play dragged onto the early hours, tournament officials decided to bring them back Sunday for a short session.

FINAL FOUR PAYOUTS:
1st 874,116 - Allen Bari
2nd 540,020 - Maria Ho


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 4 5K No Limit Hold'em
June 2-5, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $5,000
Prizepool: $4,065,500
Entries: 865

FINAL RESULTS:
ALLEN BARI 133
MARIA HO 83
SEAN LEFORT 53
NICHOLAS BLUMENTHAL 43
THOMAS ROSS 38
RICKY FOHRENBACH 33
JESSE CHINNI 33
MIKHAIL LAKHITOV 18
FARZAD BONYADI 18
JOSEPH KUETHER 18
FRANK RUSNAK 18
CARY KATZ 16
RICHARD LYNDAKER 16
BRIAN LEMKE 16
MARKUS GONSALVES 16
SIMON CHARETTE 13
CARLOS MORTENSEN 13
PETER GILMORE 13

2011 WSOP: BARI ON CRUISE CONTROL IN NLH EVENT #4

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

To say that Allen Bari will be the chip leader once all four remaining participants playing in the NLH 5K event return to their seats at the Rio later today would be an understatement.

Bari holds one hell of a stranglehold on his other three runners. In fact, Bari's 9M chip stack is so large, it's about 3:1 when compared to all three others - combined!

It will take a miracle for someone to catch Bari today - perhaps Maria Ho, who currently stands last in chips - although she's just a few chips behind second - is the one to pull it off - we will find out later today.

Farzad Bonyadi will move up on the PTPR Top 15 Leaderboard, joining Marvin Rettenmaier with 170 PTPR Points this season. This is Bonyadi's third PTPR Score of the year.

Mikhail Lakhitov also scored for the third time this season in this event.

Other notables who scored for the first or second time this year in this event include: Ricky Fohrenbach, Jesse Chinni, Joseph Kuether, Frank Rusnak, Cary Katz, Richard Lyndaker, Simon Charette, El Matador Carlos Mortensen and Peter Gilmore.

CHIP COUNTS:
1 Allen Bari 9,125,000
2 Sean LeFort 1,420,000
3 Nicholas Blumenthal 1,250,000
4 Maria Ho 1,200,000

FINAL FOUR PAYOUTS:
1st 874,116
2nd 540,020
3rd 348,128
4th 255,028


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 4 5K No Limit Hold'em
June 2-5, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $5,000
Prizepool: $4,065,500
Entries: 865

FINAL RESULTS:
Bracelet Winner 133
Runner-Up 83
3rd place 53
4th place 43
THOMAS ROSS 38
RICKY FOHRENBACH 33
JESSE CHINNI 33
MIKHAIL LAKHITOV 18
FARZAD BONYADI 18
JOSEPH KUETHER 18
FRANK RUSNAK 18
CARY KATZ 16
RICHARD LYNDAKER 16
BRIAN LEMKE 16
MARKUS GONSALVES 16
SIMON CHARETTE 13
CARLOS MORTENSEN 13
PETER GILMORE 13

2011 WSOP: SUPER STUDS - KATCHALOV, ISAIA SHAKEUP PTPR STANDINGS

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

Eugene Katchalov and Alessio Isais took center-stage Saturday night at the Rio. Both players made it to heads play at the WSOP Event 4 Seven Card Stud event.

That meant a shakedown of epic proportions atop the 2011 PTPR Tournament Player of the Year Leaderboard!

Katchalov, who stood right outside the Top 15 heading into Saturday's final table play, won the event - collecting his first WSOP bracelet in the process - and skyrockets up the charts to #2 on the PTPR Leaderboard.

Katchalov, regarded as one of the best live tournament players in the world, finally captures his bracelet - to go with his WPT title at the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond Classic during Season VI. This was Katchalov's fourth PTPR Score of the year.

The only player that could prevent Katchalov from taking over the #1 spot on the PTPR Charts was Alessio Isaia - and he did just that! Isaia's second-place finish earned him enough points to hold Katchalov off, and take over the #1 spot on the PTPR Leaderboard. The reigning WPT Venice champ held the #1 rank earlier this season - he earned his 5th PTPR Score of the season.

The man who entered the day in second place on the Leaderboard actually posted a score in this event as well. Ali Eslami finished the event in 7th position, earning him 28 PTPR Points. Eslami's third PTPR Score was still not enough to prevent him from falling to third on the season.

Galen Hall, points leader heading into the event, now sits fourth on the list.

Other notables to score PTPR Points on the event included:

Eric Buchman, Jonathan Spinks (2nd PTPR Score), Kai Landry, Vasili Lazarou (3rd PTPR Score), Jeremy Ausmus (2nd PTPR Score), Ylon Schwartz, Andy Bloch, Shaun Deeb (4th PTPR Score) and Bryan Devo Devonshire.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 4 Seven Card Stud
June 2-4, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,500
Prizepool: $481,950
Entries: 357

FINAL RESULTS:
EUGENE KATCHALOV 128
ALESSIO ISAIA 78
ERIC BUCHMAN 48
JONATHAN SPINKS 38
DENNIS PARKER 33
KAI LANDRY 28
ALI ESLAMI 28
VASILI LAZAROU 13
JEREMY AUSMUS 13
ANDREW BLUMEN 13
YLON SCHWARTZ 13
ARASH GHANEIAN 11
COLBY PITT 11
ANDY BLOCH 11
SHAUN DEEB 11
DOUG CARLI 8
JORGE LEON 8
BRYAN DEVONSHIRE 8

2011 WSOP: BARBERO WINS OMAHA HI-LOW TITLE, WAXMAN MOVES UP THE CHARTS

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

Francesco Barbaro becomes the second bracelet winner of this young WSOP season. Barbaro wins the $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low Split 8 or Better title - defeating Kostas Kalathakis heads up.

Matthew Waxman collects his fifth PTPR Score of the season, a great accomplishment. The only problem is that other the his victory at the Isle Classic, Waxman has been o-so-close in other events - it's almost disapointing for him at this point - we disagree, Waxman is due and who's to say his sixth PTPR Score doesn't come attached with a WSOP bracelet later this month? Let's hope so. Waxman's third place finish earns him 54 PTPR Points, he now enters the PTPR Player of Year Top 15 leaderboard.

Humberto Brenes, Vladimir Shchemelev, Jimmy Fricke and Jacobo Fernandez were other notables who scored PTPR Points in the event.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 3 Omaha Hi-Low Split 8 or Better
June 1-4, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,500
Prizepool: $1,248,750
Entries: 648

FINAL RESULTS:
FRANCESCO BARBERO 134
KOSTAS KALATHAKIS 84
MATTHEW WAXMAN 54
BRADLEY HELM 44
MICHAEL DEVERONICA 39
HUMBERTO BRENES 34
CAMERON MCKINLEY 34
VLADIMIR SHCHEMELEV 19
TRAVIS PEARSON 19
RICHARD MONROE 19
RYAN LENAGHAN 19
FABRIZIO GONZALEZ 17
DANIEL SMITH 17
JOHN MCCAFFREY 17
GUILLAUME RIVET 17
JIMMY FRICKE 14
MALLORY SMITH 14
JACOBO FERNANDEZ 14

2011 WSOP: SECRETARIAT AIN'T GOT NOTHING ON JAKE CODY

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

Secretariat won Horse Racing's Triple Crown in 1973 ... almost forty years later, Jake Cody has done the same - well, on the poker felt that is.

Cody becomes the third player in poker history to win a EPT, WPT and now a WSOP title. He won EPT Deauville and WPT London in 2010 and last night, he added a World Series of Poker bracelet to his trophy case, defeating Yevgeniy Timoshenko in the 25K Heads Up Championship.

Cody has one rowdy army of family and friends cheering for him in the finals, the sound at times was deafening - it was great to see ... we all know the folks from the UK can party!

Jake, who finished in the PTPR Tournament Player of the Year Top 10 in 2010, is the first bracelet winner of the 2011 WSOP season.

JAKE CODY
R1 - def. George Adams
R2 - def. Frank Kassela
R3 - def. Dani Stern
R4 - def. Jonathan Jaffe
QF - def. Anthony Guetti
SF - def. Gus Hansen
FINAL - def. Yevgeniy Timoshenko

1st $851,192 - Jake Cody
2nd $525,980 - Yevgeniy Timoshenko


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
25K NLH Heads Up World Championship
May 31-June 3, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $25,000
Prizepool: $3,040,000
Entries: 128

Defending Champion: Ayaz Mahmood

FINAL RESULTS:
JAKE CODY 126
YEVGENIY TIMOSHENKO 76
GUS HANSEN 41
ERIC FROEHLICH 41
MATT MARAFIOTI 24
ANTHONY GUETTI 24
NIKOLAY EVDAKOV 24
DAVID PAREDES 24
TOM DWAN 9
STEVE BILLIRAKIS 9
JOHN DUTHIE 9
OLIVIER BUSQUET 9
RICHARD LYNDAKER 9
KUNIMARO KOJO 9
MIKHAIL SMIRNOV 9
JONATHAN JAFFE 9

2011 WSOP: TIMOSHENKO FACES CODY FOR HEADS UP BRAGGING RIGHTS

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

Yevgeniy Timoshenko and Jake Cody will battle for the first WSOP bracelet of the 2011 season. It's the 2009 WPT World Champion vs. the 2010 EPT and WPT title holder.

Surprisingly, neither player have any PTPR Scores on the season, that is, until today.

This title could be especially big for Cody. Cody is looking to become only the third player in history to hold a triple crown - a EPT, WPT and WSOP title. The EPT Deauville and WPT London Champ can make history and join Gavin Griffin and Roland de Wolfe in the process.

Here is the road each player had to take to make it to the Finals:

YEVGENIY TIMOSHENKO
R1 - def. Toby Lewis
R2 - def. Dan Cates
R3 - def. Amritraj Singh
R4 - def. Olivier Busquet
QF - def. David Paredes
SF - def. Eric Froehlich

JAKE CODY
R1 - def. George Adams
R2 - def. Frank Kassela
R3 - def. Dani Stern
R4 - def. Jonathan Jaffe
QF - def. Anthony Guetti
SF - def. Gus Hansen

Here is what's at stake for the Championship:
1st $851,192
2nd $525,980


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
25K NLH Heads Up World Championship
May 31-June 4, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $25,000
Prizepool: $3,040,000
Entries: 128

Defending Champion: Ayaz Mahmood

FINAL RESULTS:
Bracelet Winner 126
Runner-Up 76
GUS HANSEN 41
ERIC FROEHLICH 41
MATT MARAFIOTI 24
ANTHONY GUETTI 24
NIKOLAY EVDAKOV 24
DAVID PAREDES 24
TOM DWAN 9
STEVE BILLIRAKIS 9
JOHN DUTHIE 9
OLIVIER BUSQUET 9
RICHARD LYNDAKER 9
KUNIMARO KOJO 9
MIKHAIL SMIRNOV 9
JONATHAN JAFFE 9